There has not been much publicity over Bush’ upcoming trip to Israel. And why should there be, as the visit will only serve to again emphasize what a walking disaster the pResident is?
Bush To Make His First Visit To Israel
But Bush soldiers on as if reality is something that affects only distant galaxies. On the offensive again:
Bush says US would defend Israel if Iran attacks
JERUSALEM (AFP) – US President George W. Bush said Washington would defend its close ally Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio on Sunday.
“Whether there’s an imminent attack coming, I don’t think so,” Bush said in excerpts of an interview with an Israeli television station to be aired in its entirety later in the day.
“If Iran did strike Israel… We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts,” he said.
Bush’s statements came just days before he arrives in the region for his first visit since taking office in January 2001 and the first trip by a sitting US president since December 1998.
Below::
And offensive it is!
What ‘Iranian attack’ is he talking about? Iran does not have the capacity to launch a conventional attack on Israel. The Iranian air force is decrepit for lack of spare parts for their more sophisticated aircraft. Most of them do not have the operational range to overfly Iraqi and Jordanian air space to attack.
Iranian naval forces are not likely to go beyond the Straight of Hormuz. The north-west of the Indian Ocean and the entry to the Red Sea is under heavy US (and other) surveillance.
Iranian tank divisions through the Iraqi and Jordanian desert – how likely is that?
Is Bush still referencing an Iranian nuclear attack? What else could he be talking about?
Has he already forgotten the NIE; it’s only been a month?
In a stunning reversal of Bush administration conventional wisdom, a new assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies concludes Iran shelved its nuclear weapons program over four years ago.
“We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program,” reads a declassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate key findings.
But we recall that Bush did not put much faith in what the cumulative knowledge of all the intelligence agencies concluded. He is, as the decider, entitled to his own truth.
And the Israelis were quick to pooh-pooh the NIE.
Israel challenges report on nukes
TEL AVIV — Israeli officials yesterday disputed the conclusions of Monday’s surprise U.S. assessment of Iran’s nuclear program, citing “clear and solid intelligence” that Iran is continuing to develop nuclear weapons to threaten Israel and Europe.
“We have no doubt,” said one Israeli official, who requested to remain anonymous. “If one looks at the investment, if one looks at the nature of the project, if you look at the cost to the Iranian economy, there is no logical explanation other than that the Iranian program is not benign.”
The intelligence assessment revealed a rare open rift between the intelligence communities of two allies, which have cooperated closely and share almost all their information about Iran’s nuclear program.
But what news will greet Bush when he arrives?
Israel to present Bush with ‘Iran file’
Israel does not have any evidence which could turn the tables on a recent US intelligence report which concluded that Iran has stopped developing nuclear weapons, according to the senior political-diplomatic forum at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The forum convened Sunday afternoon in order to decide on Israel’s stance on the Iranian issue ahead of US President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel, which is scheduled to being Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, Mossad chief Meir Dagan, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, Director-General of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission Shaul Horev, Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Defense Ministry Amos Gilad, and a senior Shin Bet official.
The Mossad and the IDF Intelligence branch briefed the forum on the information obtained by Israel on the Iranian nuclear issue.
So the Israeli and US intelligence communities agree, yet, the decider in chief continues to spout nonsensical, but dangerously charged drivel.
And the media lets him get away with it without challenge…